§ CASE STUDYLUXURY FASHION · MARKETPLACE & MOBILE

Zero to Live Auction: A Luxury Fashion Marketplace Built in 7 Months

A luxury fashion resale operator needed an end-to-end marketplace — where sellers run live video auctions and buyers bid in real time. We designed and built the entire platform from scratch: iOS and Android apps, live streaming infrastructure, and a scalable AWS backend.

CLIENTConfidential (NDA)

INDUSTRYLuxury Fashion

SERVICESMarketplace & Mobile App

YEAR2025

CLIENTABOUT

NAMEConfidential (NDA)

INDUSTRYLuxury Fashion

TEAM SIZEEarly-stage startup

COUNTRYConfidential

A luxury fashion marketplace operator building a platform for resellers to run live video auctions — connecting buyers who source high-end items with a global audience of bidders in real time.

RESULTSOUTCOME

First item sold in 7 months. Hundreds of users from launch.

The platform went from a blank canvas to a live, functioning marketplace in seven months — with the first auction completed and item sold shortly after launch. Hundreds of users joined the platform in the early weeks, with sellers running live auctions and buyers bidding in real time across iOS and Android.

01 / 03

7mo

KICK-OFF TO FIRST ITEM SOLD

02 / 03

100s

ACTIVE USERS AT LAUNCH

03 / 03

USER TYPES BUILT — AUCTIONEERS AND BUYERS

OVERVIEWTHE BUILD

✕ The Problem

No platform existed for live luxury resale auctions

Luxury goods resellers — buyers who source high-end items and sell them for a profit — had no dedicated platform for running live video auctions. Existing marketplaces weren't built for the real-time, broadcast-style selling these auctioneers needed, and general-purpose video platforms had no commerce layer. The client needed a purpose-built marketplace with live streaming, real-time bidding, and the full buying flow built in from day one.

✓ The Solution

A purpose-built live auction marketplace for luxury fashion

We designed and built the entire platform: UX from the ground up, React Native mobile apps for iOS and Android, real-time bidding infrastructure, and live video streaming — all running on a containerised AWS backend built to handle concurrent auctions at scale.

01React Native iOS and Android apps serving both auctioneer and buyer user types
02Live video auction streaming allowing sellers to broadcast auctions in real time
03Real-time bidding engine handling concurrent bids across active auctions
04Auctioneer dashboard for scheduling auctions, managing listings, and tracking bids
05Buyer marketplace for browsing upcoming auctions, placing bids, and completing purchases
06Full checkout and payment flow integrated within the mobile apps
07Containerised AWS infrastructure (ECS, Fargate) with CloudFront and Cloudflare for global delivery

TECH STACK /React NativeAWS ECSAWS FargateCloudFrontCloudflareWebRTCTypeScript

FEATURESWHAT WE SHIPPED

Inside the
Live Auction Platform build.

Core capabilities that make this product work in the wild.

FIRST POINT

Live Video Auction Streaming

Sellers broadcast live from the app, showcasing items in real time while buyers watch and bid simultaneously — creating the energy of a physical auction room in a mobile experience.

SECOND POINT

Real-Time Bidding Engine

A concurrent bidding system that handles rapid bid submissions across multiple live auctions simultaneously — with instant updates to all participants and conflict-free bid resolution.

THIRD POINT

Auctioneer Dashboard

Sellers schedule upcoming auctions, manage their listings, and run live sales from a single interface — with real-time bid visibility and post-auction order management built in.

FOURTH POINT

Buyer Marketplace

Buyers browse upcoming and live auctions, join streams, place bids, and complete purchases — all within the app, with a checkout flow that handles payment and delivery coordination.

HOW WE BUILT ITPROCESS

First Item Sold in Seven Months

STEP 01

Discovery & UX Design

Mapped the full auction lifecycle for both user types — auctioneers scheduling and running sales, buyers discovering and bidding in live streams. Designed the complete UI from scratch, validating flows with the client before a single line of code was written.

STEP 02

Infrastructure Architecture

Designed a containerised, serverless-first architecture on AWS ECS and Fargate — built to handle concurrent live auctions with unpredictable traffic spikes, with CloudFront and Cloudflare providing global low-latency delivery.

STEP 03

Live Streaming & Real-Time Bidding

Built the live video auction layer: sellers broadcast from the mobile app, viewers watch and bid in real time, with a bidding engine handling concurrent updates across all active participants without conflicts or delays.

STEP 04

Mobile App Development

Built iOS and Android apps in React Native from a single codebase — covering the full experience for both auctioneers and buyers, from account setup through to post-auction checkout.

STEP 05

Beta & Launch

Ran a closed beta with the first cohort of sellers before opening to buyers, using feedback to tighten the auction flow and bidding UX. The platform went live with its first real auction seven months after kick-off.

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